Cherokee Storytelling on Tap at NSU Jazz Lab

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- A group of Cherokee storytellers will gather for the 4th Annual Hastings Shade Memorial Storytelling on March 26 from 6-9 p.m. at the NSU Jazz Lab.  The event is free of charge and open to the public.   Featured storytellers will include Choogie Kingfisher, Sammy Still, Woody Hansen, Sequoyah Guess, Tonya Russell and Lindsey Bark.

The storytelling event is in honor and in remembrance of the late Cherokee elder Hastings Shade.  Shade was former Deputy Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. A story teller by nature, Shade was a charter member of the Cherokee storytelling group, “The Turtle Island Liars Club”.

Mr. Shade was involved with the Keetoowah Cherokees on many different levels.  First and foremost, he was a Keetoowah Cherokee Language Instructor whose classes in Basic and Intermediate Keetoowah Cherokee were well attended and very popular.  Additionally, Shade contributed numerous cultural presentations during youth culture camps sponsored by the Keetoowah Cherokee.

Storytelling predates writing. The earliest forms of storytelling were primarily oral combined with hand gestures and facial expressions. In addition to being part of religious ritual, for many ancient cultures, rock art may have served as a form of storytelling. The Australian Aboriginal people painted symbols from stories on cave walls as a means of helping the storyteller remember the story.

The members of the Turtle Island Liar’s Club include Sammy Still, Sequoyah Guess and Woody Hansen.  Some of their stories, along with stories by Shade, are the subject of a recently published book, Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liar’s Club, written by Christopher Teuton, and published by the University of North Carolina Press.

This year’s storytelling event is hosted by the United Keetoowah Band’s John Hair Cultural Center and Museum.  For more information, call 918-772-4389.